Question

From "Musee des Beaux Arts" W. H. Auden The poem is about the mythical character Icarus who built his own wings with wax and feathers only to fly too close to the sun and fall to his death. In Breughel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry, But for him it was not an important failure; What is emphasized in both the painting and the poem?

Answer 1

A) that no one seems to care much about Icarus's fall

Answer 2

Both the painting and the poem emphasize that nobody really pays attention to Icarus's fall.

Step-by-step explanation:

The poem "Musee des Beaux Arts" is actually describing the painting of Icarus's fall by Breughel. Thus, both contain very much the same elements. The author of the poem, Auden, is contemplating the fact that the old Masters could truly understand suffering. They could also see and depict how people can be insensitive to suffering when it does not affect them directly. Auden then mentions the painting, which shows Icarus falling from the sky into the ocean after his wings melted. There is a ship sailing nearby, as well as a farmer ploughing his land. However, no one - not the ploughman, not the ship crew - pays Icarus the slightest attention. It does not concern them that that young man is falling to his death. They have their own lives to worry about.